The invention relates to a computer system. More particularly, the invention relates to a computer system with multiple operation systems and a method for booting the computer system.
Conventionally, kernel loaders are customized with their respective operating systems (OS), such that each loader is dedicated to loading its own OS. For example, a loader for Microsoft Windows CE can not be loaded on the Linux OS. A single computer, however, can have multiple OSs installed. Each loader corresponding to OS is typically stored in a storage device such as the master boot record (MBR) of a hard disk or a boot sector of a hard disk partition instead of being stored on a main board.
During the conventional booting process, a computer processor first executes the instructions of the basic input/output system (BIOS) for system initialization. Next, the BIOS points to an MBR of a hard disk being booted wherein the MBR comprises a partition table and a program which directs the processor to retrieve an OS kernel or a kernel loader from a boot sector of a partition.
In addition, several loaders are loaded from storage devices into main memory when booting a conventional computer, and then an OS kernel is loaded lastly. As such, time consuming is the most concern.
For example, Microsoft disk operating system (MS-DOS) must first be loaded to execute loading instructions for Microsoft Windows CE. Thus, a MS-DOS OS must be installed, and loaded during a boot process, which is time consuming.